Barry Diller and I see eye-to-eye...sort of
Billionaire Barry Diller of IAC evidently
ruffled some feathers at the
Web 2.0 Conference, saying:
"...Diller made some comments disparaging those who create content on the Web that only a handful of people will ever see. "When you get into forms of entertainment, talent always wins out. There isn't that much talent in the world. An audience of 8 to 12 people might be interested in someone's individual expression, but the process of people with talent and expertise making entertainment products won't be displaced by 18-year-olds making videos, except maybe on 'Funniest Home Videos.' " It's summarizing the sole reason of my hatred of reality TV. Don't get me wrong, despite my role in mainstream media, I'm a huge new media advocate...many have told me one of the few MSM'ers to endorse, much less acknowledge new apps. I constantly encourage people to get involved with cutting-edge communications like podcasting, blogging, v-logging, wikis, mash-ups, etc. But, this still doesn't mean the majority of it won't be as good as that generated by those schooled in the art of formal communications (I'm not, I slid into my job as a news anchor, sports producer, radio show host, columnist, blogger and podcaster while being a sofwtare developer).
The point is that if you're going to get involved with something in new media, do it well. Shatter the stigma of DIY contributions being of DIY quality. Write well, speak clearly, and program intuitively. MSM diehards are counting on new media apps to fade due to the fact that audiences will see the lack of organization, training and poor preparation and realize the error of their ways, and return to big stuff. Do great work and continue to blur the line between what's known as mainstream and what's not. There's no more segregation between "the media" and everyone else on the planet. Everyone is part of the game now, although there does still exist a segmentation between mainstream- and the community-generated content.
Progress the platform.